Pioneers Look to Weather Storm
June 1, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers News Release
Wilkes-Barre, PA- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers will be facing the Green Bay Blizzard at the Resch Center in Green Bay, WI on Friday, June 3rd at 8:30 PM EST. This will be the second meeting of the East Division rivals. The Pioneers battled the Blizzard in week 5 and fell short 48-40 on April 30th.
The Pioneers are coming off a 46-33 loss on Friday, May 27th against the 3rd ranked team in the league, the Manchester Wolves. The Pioneers sprang to an early lead in the beginning of the first quarter, but the Wolves offense proved to be too much for Wilkes-Barre to handle.
Green Bay had a five game winning streak snapped by the Birmingham Steeldogs. The Steeldogs, whose win in week 9 was their first of 2005 and in 301 days, handled the number 2 ranked team in af2 55-26.
The Pioneers are ranked 1st in Kickoff Returns; 2nd in Sacks Against with 4, First Downs with 165, Opponent Penalties with 78.2 yards per game; 3rd in with Field Goal Percent of .556; 4th with a Pass Rating of 108.8; and 5th in Scoring Offense, Total Defense and Scoring (non-kicking).
Pioneers stat leaders include Kyle Rowley is who is 2nd in Total Offensive Average per Game, Passing Touchdowns; 4th in Total Offense, Pass Completion Percentage, Pass Rating and Passing Yards per Attempt. JR Thomas is 1st in Kick Return Yards; 2nd in All-Purpose Yards; 3rd in Kick Returns; 4th in Receiving Touchdowns and Kick Return Average; 5th in Scoring and Scoring Touchdowns. Rocco Forgione is 4th in Receptions, David Davis is 4th in PAT Made and 5th in Scoring (kick) and Jamie Hattley is 4th in Tackles with 53.0.
This will be the first away game of a long series of road trips for the Pioneers. They will be playing 5 of the next 6 games on the road before returning home Saturday, July 23rd. All of the Pioneers' road games can be heard on WILK 980 AM.
The Pioneers will return home Friday, June 11th for "School's Out Night." Tickets for this game are now on sale. Anyone interested in purchasing single game or group tickets should contact the team's ticket sales office at either (570) 270-5811 or (570) 270-5813. Tickets may also be purchased at the Wachovia Arena box office or online at Ticketmaster.com.
arenafootball2 Stories from June 1, 2005
- Louisville Fire game notes - Louisville Fire
- af2 Nation - OSC Original by Walter L. Johnson II
- Riptide Seek Revenge over Rivals - San Diego Riptide
- Conquest ready to cook the Wings - Albany Firebirds
- Week 10 af2 Quick Hitters - af2
- Firecats Gain Spot In Coaches Poll - Florida Firecats
- Xplorers stay number one for second straight week - af2
- Xplorers and RiverKings to prove themselves on fairway - Memphis Xplorers
- Pioneers' Thomas Falls - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers
- Pioneers Look to Weather Storm - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
